Stefan Stahl
Seituoda Taskforce Command
823
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Posted - 2014.11.02 15:57:00 -
[1] - Quote
Hey,
while twiddling around in Matlab to analyse swarm and dropship interaction I figured I could use the scripts I made to visualize an idea I had a while ago:
I want swarm missiles to be launched in the direction the swarmer is aiming when the missiles are released. In short I want their launch to be directional.
Right now when you release a swarm missile the missile is spawned 5-10 meters in the direction where you are aiming and then flies off in the shortest direction towards the locked target. I want the missile to start off heading in the direction where you aimed it and then home in on the target from there.
What effect does this have? Let's look at graphs, because that's fun.
Our scenario is a swarmer behind an obstacle looking to kill an HAV thats standing 80 meters in front of him on level ground. Being a smart swarmer our blueberry locks on, aims up and releases the swarm. The missiles then take the direct path towards HAV that will be static for our purposes.
That's the left illustration in this picture.
(Blueberry in blue to the left, obstacle in black nearby, HAV in red, missile trajectory in blue)
The right graphic shows what happens in the same scenario with directional missile launching. The missiles start heading upwards and then curve towards the HAV.
The observant reader will now realize that in both scenarios the HAV was hit. So what's the difference? Well, let's see what happens when the HAV approaches the swarmer. Say the HAV drives up towards the swarmer's position to a distance of 30 meters. Then the situation looks like this. On the left we have the well known behavior of the swarms going over the obstacle and hitting the HAV. With directional missile launching on the right the swarms try to come at the HAV but can't make the turn and slam into the ground behind it.
The turn rate used for these illustrations is the one we're using right now, as of delta's balance hotfix.
Why do I think this is a good game mechanic?
This enables a swarmer to use his brain to set himself apart from less fortunate swarm launcher operators. Let's say I expect an HAV that is within line of sight right now to take cover behind a building very soon. With some geometric understanding I can now launch the missiles horizontally so they circumnavigate the obstacle and hit anyway. On the other hand an HAV can now use the directional launch of missiles to his advantage by covering behind a nearby obstacle, forcing the swarmer to choose a difficult trajectory for the missiles.
All in all I think this will not change the balance between vehicles and swarmers very much, but it'll give both parties a lot more to work with in terms of gameplay. |